Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-10-27
HIS TRIBUTE!
Sad Memories Clustering About
Decoration Day.
WHILE THE NATION MOURNS OVER
THE GRAVES OF ITS SOL
DER DEAD,


By the Carnage of Battle.
One portion of Governor Foraker's
Middletown speech will live in the men,
ories of men long after Grover Cleveland
is forgotten. 1t has few equals and no
superiors in the English language. Gov
ernor Foraker, in closing his speech,
said:
''But now let us consider further.
world of beautiful, sacred and holy
thought is connected with Decoration
Dayi Yes, know you have, because
you are a patriotic people. l do not need,
therefore, to dwell upon the significance
of that day. But allow me to briefly re-
call that picture which is presented
by the loyal people of this country on
every Both day of May.
Gas the day approaches the warming
sunshine of spring time brings out the
flowers. As they peep and bud, bloom
and blossom, the mothers and widows
and orphans note their coming, and
watch with anxious care for the brightest
and most beautiful. They have a special
use for them. They are thinking of the
dark and trying days of 1S61-'65. They
are recalling idolized, darling boys, hus-
bands and fathers, who volunteered and
marched away after the flag, never to re-
turn again. They remember, as though
it was but yesterday, the last fond en-
brace. They again feel the wrenching of
the chord strings of the heart. They are
once more blinded with tears. They re-
call that strange, wild delirium of war.
They again hear the rattle of the drum,
the shrill, piercing notes of the fife.
They once more see the flag floating on
the breeze. They hear again the resound-
ing tramp of marching men. They see
pale but determined faces in line
Harkl they are moving. They are off.
They fade out of sight forever. Oh, God,
can any language express the utter lone
Eness and desolation of the mothers
and wives who thus gave up their loved
ones! Think of them as they returned to
their homes, there to wait and watch and
pray until their darlings might come
again. Recall if you can how the lonely
wife with her hapless babe struggled to
exc out subsistence, and how each day
she tried with Spartan heroism to cheer
her inquiring children with stories of
what they would do when papa should
come marching home again; and obi
anguish unspeakable! when at last,
like a thunderbolt, the news comes
that there has been another great
battle, and in the list of the dead
is found the name of that dear
one. Recall if you can the terrible
scenes, the great sacrifices, the unutter-
able woe of that fearful time and then
you Gao appreciate what is passing in the
minds of the mothers, the widow and the
orphans, and the surviving comrades, as
they note the budding and blooming of
the bright flowers of spring time. They
are thinking again of the low grassy
mound in the cemetery, where lie and
sleep their last sleep the brave-hearted
heroes who went down in the prime of
their manhood.
cat last the day comes. All business
is suspended. A holy hush falls upon
the whole land. The Grand Army bows
gather at their post headquarters. They
brush up their uniforms, polish their
buttons, get out the flag, and beneath its
folds with solemn step, and keeping time
to the drum-beat, they march again. Not,
however, to battle. The drum is muffied.
The flag is draped. They are marching
to the sacred spots where their comrades
lie. The mothers, the fathers, the widows,
the orphans, the whole community fall
into the procession, and all wend their
way to the places of the dead. Here are
score of the most beautiful little maid
ems of the place. They carry baskets of
flowers. The are laden with the bright
est garlands that can be woven. They
look like very angels from heaven. The
cemetery is reached. Patriotic words
are spoken, and every head is barred and
every heart is bowed, while Almighty
God is worshiped, and His divine bless
ing invoked and received.
'The-ittle girls go forward. The flow
ers are scattered, and as they fall every
eye is wet with tears, just as 1 see are
the eyes of hundreds of you now. Every
soul seems lifted up to higher plane. 1t
is a Nearer my God to Thee time All
who have participated are better, purer,
and holier for having done so. They
have performed sacred and ennObling
duty; they have done what every patriot
should do. 1t is almost impossible to be-
lieve that any intelligent, patriotic
American citizen could allow the day to
pass without its due observance. Look
out through your mind and behold the
picture of the whole land so engaged. See
with your mental vision this beautiful
occurring in every cemetery
from one ocean to the other. Behold the
the orphans, the mothers, the
veteran survivors there assembled. See
the rising generations as they drink in
the wholesome and inspiring lessons of
patriotism. Listen to the prayers for our
country, the dead, the living and the
future generations of America. Hear the
thrilling songs that are sung, and the
words of patriotism that are spoken, and
rs you hold all this picture in your mind,
that if there is one man who
more than all others has been benefited
by the sacrifices that are being honor ed,
one man more than all others who should
MANIFEST appreciation IOr tnOSe SacrluceS
and be glad to engage in such patriotic,
appropriate and sacred ceremonies, it is
,he president of the United States, who,
put for the deeds Of sach heroes would
lot have had any government to be
president of. Surely it must be sacred
lay with him. Surely his heart is over
lowing with emotion.
"Surely he is somewhere, at some one
of these cemeteries, engaged in these
duties. Look and find him. 1t
will be interesting to note how, with his
whole soul, he enjoys them. You look
in vain9 What, can't you see him any
wheref Look agains You must be mis-
taken. Look at Gettysburg, Arlington,
Nashville, Chattanooga. He must GER
.ainly be at some one OF the National
where sleep by the thousands
5he men who made it possible for him to
be president No, he is not there. You
10 look In vain. He is no part of the
picture. Is he at home, sick? No; he is
never sick. [Laughter,l Where, then,
,an he be' He's gone 'a'fishin' [Cries
If Shame shame, shame